Blogs

In the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, between the third and second millennium BC, a widespread funeral practice consisted in burying humans with animals. Scientists have discovered that both foxes and dogs were domesticated, as their diet was similar to that of their owners.
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Coinciding with the Pit Grave culture (4200-3600 years before our era), coming from Southern Europe, the Neolithic communities of the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula started a ceremonial activity related to the sacrifice and burial of dogs. The high amount of cases that are recorded in Catalonia suggests it was a general practice and it proves the tight relationship between humans and these animals, which, apart from being buried next to them, were fed a similar diet to humans'.
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Cancer genes in mucosal melanoma, a rare and poorly understood subtype of melanoma, have been compared in humans, dogs and horses for the first time. Researchers sequenced the genomes of the same cancer across different species to pinpoint key cancer genes. The results give insights into how cancer evolves across the tree of life and could guide the development of new therapies.
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Researchers have identified two novel anxiety-related genomic regions in German Shepherd dogs. The region associated with fearfulness corresponds with the locus of human chromosome 18, which is associated with various psychiatric disorders, while the region associated with noise sensitivity includes several genes related to human and canine behavior and mental disorders.
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11,500 years ago in what is now northeast Jordan, people began to live alongside dogs and may also have used them for hunting, a new study shows. The archaeologists suggest that the introduction of dogs as hunting aids may explain the dramatic increase of hares and other small prey in the archaeological remains at the site.
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With their small size, stubby faces and wide-set eyes, bulldogs, French bulldogs and Boston terriers are among the most popular of domestic dog breeds. Now researchers have found the genetic basis for these dogs' appearance, and linked it to a rare inherited syndrome in humans.
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Wolves travel shorter distances and move slower during snowfall events, according to new research. The effects were most pronounced at night, when wolves hunt, and behavior returned to normal within a day.
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Researchers are running a large-scale camera-trap study called eMammal, recently enlisted the help of K-12 students from 28 schools and four countries -- the United States, India, Mexico and Kenya. What the researchers, and the kids, discovered was surprising.
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Researchers have developed a new treatment for dogs with a rare, but life-threatening, arrhythmia caused by atrioventricular accessory pathways (APs). The minimally invasive technique, which uses radiofrequencies, is modified from a human cardiology procedure and has a more than 95 percent success rate in treating dogs with this type of arrhythmia.
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Was taking a walk around our neighborhood lake one recent morning and noticed a trio of river otters having breakfast and sporting around.
In other sightings...
A creek runs alongside the footpath and one morning I heard the *thwack* of a beaver slap. I watched the creek for a while and sure enough a beaver glided by on its back. It was gone by the time I fumbled out my phone so I never got a photo of it never mind a video. Whenever I walk in the mornings I listen and look for the beaver again, but no luck so far.

Researchers have shown that dogs possess some 'metacognitive' abilities -- specifically, they are aware of when they do not have enough information to solve a problem and will actively seek more information. The researchers created a test in which dogs had to find a reward behind one of two fences. They found that the dogs looked for additional information significantly more often when they had not seen where the reward was hidden.
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Every day, thousands of trained K9 dogs sniff out narcotics, explosives and missing people. These dogs are invaluable for security, but they're also expensive. Researchers have made the beginning steps toward an artificial 'robot nose' device that officers could use instead of dogs. The heart of the system would be living odor receptors grown from mouse genes that respond to target odors, including the smells of cocaine and explosives.
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